Retirees "Avoiding" Risk, Advice

October 17, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Although the
average American will live 20 to 30 years in retirement,
nearly a quarter (22%) of those currently in retirement are
worried they won't be able to sustain their current standard
of living for even a decade.

In fact, though nearly half (44%) of those retirees
don’t believe their income will hold up for 20 years,

52% don’t look for help from others

59% haven’t changed their financial plan since
retiring and

46% haven’t met with a financial professional since
they got that gold watch.

Maybe They Should

The survey found that nearly a third (31%) of those
already in retirement aren’t taking inflation, fluctuating
interest rates or rising medical costs into consideration
when planning retirement finances.

The U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray survey found that 82% of
retirees were comfortable with the risk in their investment
portfolios, and only 3% would like more risk – if it
offered the chance for greater rewards.

Not surprisingly, the vast majority (80%) characterize
their current level of investment risk as conservative,
while more than half (54%) claim to spend only the income
from their assets, while saving the principal.